I would have liked even more of an explanation about the motive at the end, though. I appreciated the quick pacing, and the resolution to this mystery was satisfying and made a lot of sense with what we had learned so far while also remaining a surprise. We start off with a (possible) murder mystery that does a good job of introducing the characters and the situation of this world. My individual 'volume' reviews are as follows: I tried to mark most of the spoilers, but tread carefully anyway. Apparently I have a bit of a rambling problem. I kept a running log of my thoughts on each 'volume'/collected arc that was included in this first Fables Compendium, and let me tell you it is a doozy. I will say I had some gripes about these comics at points-almost every single character in this was white, I thought that the way some social views were addressed was a bit weird or outdated, and-the worst offense imo-there was a character who both fought for the Confederate army and later wore a Confederate flag, who ends up getting his own spin-off series (not included in these Compendiums, thank goodness.) I could not put this volume down (which is saying something since it weighed approximately one billion pounds.) I will say that I really enjoyed most of these issues/arcs, and I absolutely flew through them. Now, these 'fables' live in modern(ish) New York. It follows many fairytale creatures/people who have been banished from their 'homelands' by a mysterious figure known as the Adversary. This is a series of comics that I had long heard about and desired to read, but which I didn't get around to until just recently.

In the early 2000s he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables

He produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the late 1990s Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer.

He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix. He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comics series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. However, for reasons unknown, the series had trouble maintaining an original schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many years.

He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew. In the late 1970s to early 1980s he drew fantasy ink pictures for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks.

Fables compendium 1